


The Itsy Bitsy Spider

by WyldeSpiderRaptor



Series: Secrets Tangled in a Web of Lies (Earth-98565) [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Adorable Peter Parker, Airplane Crashes, Anti-Mutant Sentiments (Marvel), Blind Character, Blindness, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, F/M, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hydra (Marvel), Implied Godfather Matt Murdock, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inhibitor Collars & Inhibitor Bracelets, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Ben Parker & Matt Murdock Coparenting Peter Parker, Mutants, Neglectful Richard Parker (implied), Non-Consensual Drug Use, Nurse May Parker (Spider-Man), Orphan Peter Parker, Past Child Abuse, Police Officer Ben Parker, Protective Ben Parker, Protective Matt Murdock, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Richard Parker is a Shitty Father, Toddler Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyldeSpiderRaptor/pseuds/WyldeSpiderRaptor
Summary: "May, what is Peter doing here?" Ben asked, stepping inside their cozy apartment."I don't know," May said in a hushed tone so she wouldn't wake the sleeping boy. "Richard just dropped him off half-awake with a suitcase next to him, and left before I opened the door."~Ben Parker and May Parker, a hardworking couple living in Queens, are forced to rearrange their lives around a sudden, new addition to their little family is brought to them following a family tragedy.
Relationships: Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Mary Parker/Richard Parker, Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Matt Murdock & Peter Parker & Ben Parker
Series: Secrets Tangled in a Web of Lies (Earth-98565) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092965
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	The Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go, everyone! The first official fic in the Earth-98565 universe! This is a prequel to A Spider Born From Secrets, and the first of many one-shot or double-shot fics that take place in my fanmade Spiderverse. I hope you guys enjoy it, and I'll see you all at the end!

_November 27, 2007._

Ben and May Parker never had kids. They loved kids, don't get them wrong, because they worked with kids all the time.

Ben was a police officer, and May was a nurse, so seeing kids on the job was a common occurrence for the two of them.

They made a great team for the most part, but at times, it was lonely without a child or two scampering through the house.

Ben suffered from fertility issues, so no matter how hard he and his wife tried, they could never seem to bear children.

Richard Parker, Ben's younger brother who worked overseas with his wife, Mary Fitzpatrick, however, had a child. A little boy named Peter.

Ben and May had only seen Peter on occasion, usually on holidays or the little guy's birthday, but they treasured every moment with him. 

Peter was like any toddler, although he was a lot more grown-up for his age. When he saw Ben's Glock 22 that hung from the holster on his belt when he spent the weekend with them after the police officer came home from work, he was able to identify what it was almost immediately.

That bothered Ben for some reason. A kid Peter's age, around three and four, shouldn't know what a Glock was.

"Matt, I'm not saying Rich lets him play with guns," he stressed to his best friend and lawyer, Matt Murdock, one day when he stopped by to visit him after work, still decked out in all his police gear. "But don't you just think it's weird that he knows something like that?"

Matt shrugged, his milky grey eyes focusing on his best friend from behind his glasses, which had dark, red lenses to help him see the outlines of people, even though he still used a cane for navigation. "What I don't understand, Ben is why he always comes here. You've never even _been_ to where Peter lives, right?" He leaned back in his office chair, raising an eyebrow at the police officer. "What's the reason for _that_?"

"Rich moved overseas with Mary," Ben replied. "He said she wanted to move back to her home country to get married, and they've been staying there."

"And...where _is_ there, exactly?" The lawyer pressed.

"Somewhere in Europe or Russia, he didn't exactly specify," he replied. "I mean, Mary has an accent, don't know what kind, though, so that's a definite indicator that she's not American."

"Why don't you talk to Jess about it?" Matt suggested, using his enhanced senses to locate his minifridge to pull out a Starbucks cappuccino drink.

"Matt, I already have to deal with her in the precinct, I do _not_ want to talk to her," Ben groaned, wiping a hand down his face. "You're both lucky I'm not arresting you for being unlicensed, you hear?" His voice grew lower so no one could hear him.

"You wouldn't arrest us if your life depended on it," Matt chuckled, shaking his head. "But all I'm saying is just ask her if she could conduct a background check, yeah?"

"A background check on my own brother?" Ben gave him a disbelieving look.

"Yeah."

"Matt."

"I'm serious, Ben," Mat said, standing up. He winced slightly, before reaching up to massage his arm. "Dammit... Kingpin messed me up pretty good..."

"Then you're lucky Ben married the hottest nurse this side of Hell's Kitchen," Foggy Nelson said, walking past the two of them, a cup of coffee in one hand.

"Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't call my wife 'hot' or 'sexy', Nelson," Ben retorted, smiling a bit.

"He's not lying, though, Ben," Matt said, sitting back down to take a drink of his Starbucks.

The officer chuckled, shaking his head. "Matt, you can't even see."

"Since when has seeing things stopped me from speaking the truth?" The lawyer fired back, making Ben laugh again.

"Human disaster Matthew Murdock, everyone!" He said, clapping his hands mockingly.

Matt tossed his head back with a laugh, before shaking his head. "It's good to be here, Officer Benjamin Parker."

Ben smiled at his oldest friend, taking a step back to exit his office. "I'll see you later, Matt."

"Drinks on Friday?" He called.

"Drinks on Friday," Ben confirmed, stepping out and walking down the hallway to exit the building.

His smile faded into a look of frustration, as he sighed, walking out to his police cruiser.

He knew Matt meant well when he suggested the background check, but he didn't think it was right.

He did background checks all the time while on the force, but it felt too invasive to do one on someone in his own family.

He switched on his police radio just in case, before pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street to head home.

At a red light, he fiddled with the radio, before instantly shutting it off when all anyone could talk about was the new Inhibitor Law Senator Thaddeus Ross managed to pass.

Yes, he and Matt joked about it quite frequently, but in all honesty...it really bothered him.

He hated seeing Mutants or Inhumans having to wear a collar or bracelet depending on how strong their abilities were, never getting to feel normal, never getting to feel like they belonged somewhere... It made him really mad.

He never handled arresting unlicensed enhanced individuals for that very reason. Knowing they would be flung into the Raft without any say or trial was infuriating to him. 

Some enhanced individuals, like Jessica Jones and Matt, for instance, were really good at hiding their abilities, so they didn't have to worry about getting an Inhibitor, although the new law painted Matt's alter-ego Daredevil in a bad light.

Ben sighed, pulling into the back parking lot at the apartment complex he lived at with May, wiping a hand down his face. He climbed out of his cruiser, prepared to take May out for dinner that night instead of eating the leftover chili they had the previous night.

He strolled into the building, nodding and smiling politely in a greeting to a few people who were taking their children outside to walk down to the ice cream parlor around the corner or leave for a night shift at work.

He stood in the elevator for what seemed like forever before he reached the sixth floor of the apartment. He stepped into the hallway, walking up to his door to unlock it when May flung it open.

Ben's eyes widened a tiny bit when he noticed the sleeping bundle in her arms.

"May, what is Peter doing here?" He asked, stepping inside their cozy apartment.

"I don't know," May said in a hushed tone so she wouldn't wake the sleeping boy. "Richard just dropped him off half-awake with a suitcase next to him, and left before I opened the door."

Ben sighed, shaking his head. "My brother's done a lot of strange things in the past, but dropping Peter off unannounced is really strange..." He shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on a hook installed next to the door. "I'll try to call him, see if I can get an answer as to why he did this."

"I already tried, but it went straight to voicemail every time," May replied, following her husband into the kitchen, where he started brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

"When did he stop by?" Ben asked, gently placing a hand on Peter's mop of fluffy, scarlet-brown curls.

"About twenty minutes ago? I tried getting Peter to wake up a bit more to get him some food, but he fell asleep not long after I picked him up." May looked down at her sleeping nephew then looked up at Ben, who focused his tired olive green eyes on her.

"Go take him to his room, May, I'll try to get a hold of Richard or Mary," he instructed, pulling out the new iPhone that had been released that summer from his pocket.

May gently kissed Peter's forehead when the six-year-old stirred a tiny bit, as she carried him into his bedroom. She set him down on his bed, pulling the blankets up to his chin, just as she heard Ben mutter a curse.

"Dammit... Voicemail. I can't get a hold of him." He looked past his wife and at his sleeping nephew, who looked like he wouldn't be waking up any time soon. "It's strange he was so tired. He's always bouncing around, always excited to see us."

May wrapped her arms around her chest, furrowing her brow. "Do you think we should take him to the doctor?"

"Let's wait and see what tomorrow's gonna bring," he said, kissing her cheek. "Let him sleep for now."

May cast a worried look over her shoulder at her nephew, who was still curled into a tight ball. "Something's wrong, Ben, he's never this tired... And how Richard just dropped him off like that..." She shook her head, fiddling with the hem of her aquamarine scrubs. "That's not something he'd do, Ben..."

Ben furrowed his brow, letting his eyes stray away from his wife and towards the bedroom his nephew was fast asleep in. "Why don't you take him to Helen tomorrow?"

"Ben, he's never met Helen before. I don't even think she's in _town_ ," May stressed, brow furrowing.

Ben sighed, shaking his head. "Why don't you give him a check-up tomorrow? I'll take off work, and I'll bring him by."

May mulled the thought over in her head before nodding. "Alright. Fine. Bring him over. I'm going to do a DNA test on him, make sure Richard didn't shoot him full of anything."

Ben nodded. "I don't know if my brother is that stupid enough to drop Peter off drugged up to the gills, and I don't come after him for it, then he's damn wrong. Because no one drugs our nephew and gets away with it." He walked past her to change into his "at home" clothes, and shower.

May looked back at her nephew's room, eyes clouded with worry before following Ben into theirs.

* * *

_November 28, 2007. Parker Residence._

Ben was true to his word, and he took off the next day to stay and watch Peter. He was still really groggy when the police officer checked on him around 8:00 that morning, so he let him sleep in way later than he originally planned.

Around 9:15, a bleary-eyed, six-year-old Peter Parker waddled out of his bedroom, rubbing his eye with a little fist.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Ben chuckled, smiling gently at his nephew.

Peter's bright, baby blue eyes flickered towards his uncle and his eyes widened in excitement. "Unca Ben!" He launched himself into his uncle's arms, hugging him tightly.

"How'd you sleep, squirt?" Ben asked, ruffling his scarlet-copper curls.

"I slept the entire way on the plane!" He said innocently. "Daddy gave me some water that made me sleepy, too!"

 _He_ did _drug Peter,_ Ben thought angrily, as he furrowed his brow at his nephew. "Your dad gave you water that made you sleepy?"

Peter nodded. "Mm-hm! With ice, an' a twisty straw, an' a baby umbella!"

"A little umbrella, bud?" Ben chuckled, able to mask his anger at his brother by how sweet Peter was.

The little toddler stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "That's what I said. Umbella."

"I believe you, bud," he said, kissing his forehead. "You hungry?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes!" He squealed excitedly, as Ben stood up from the table.

"Alright, inside voice, kid, inside voice," he said, chuckling.

Peter was pretty smart for his age. He already knew how to multiply and divide, and he caught on to helping Ben in the kitchen, usually by dropping chocolate chips all onto the pancakes in the skillet with little to no fear of the searing heat whatsoever.

He had seen how confident Peter was, and it made his heart swell with pride. He knew Richard didn't give him as much attention as Mary did, which was most likely why the toddler was so close to him.

Ben could feel the anger boiling inside him when Peter revealed that he had been drugged on the flight there. Why? He didn't know. But he didn't like it.

While Peter happily munched on his chocolate chip pancakes, fried eggs, and bacon strips, Ben phoned his brother, listening to it ring, and ring, and ring...before going to voicemail.

"You better answer your damn phone, Rich," he growled, keeping his voice low so Peter couldn't hear him. "You have a _lot_ of explaining to do." He stuffed his phone into his pocket before looking over at his nephew. "How does Scooby-Doo and breakfast sound, squirt?"

"Scooby!" Peter cheered. "Scooby, Scooby, Scooby!"

Ben pulled out the newly released Scooby movie, and popped the disc into the DVD player, as Peter excitedly swung his feet under his chair.

Despite what his shit father did to him to bring him to Queens, he seemed innocently unaware of being drugged the previous night and stayed the happy little boy he always was when he was with his aunt and uncle; polite, obedient, and a generally good kid.

As Richard was becoming increasingly hard to contact throughout the day, Ben was starting to become frustrated. He even tried contacting Mary but to no avail.

Why were they so silent? Why didn't they want to be updated on the condition of their child?

When Ben drove Peter to May's office to have her examine him for any signs of drug use, he decided to call Matt.

" _Hey, Ben. What's going on?_ " He asked.

"Matt, can I stop by for a bit?" He asked, his voice low and serious, as he risked a glance in the rearview window to keep an eye on Peter, who was babbling on to his Scooby-Doo plush, making the toy walk all over the backseat of his cruiser, a wide grin on his face.

" _Sure. I'll be down to greet you soon,_ " the Mutant replied before hanging up, as Ben pulled into the parking lot to where Matt worked.

"Where we goin', Unca Ben?" Peter looked up at the police officer with those bright, blue eyes of his, tilting his head in confusion.

Ben smiled at him, taking the key out of the ignition. "We're gonna see a friend of mine who wants to meet you."

Peter smiled and nodded excitedly before allowing Ben to help him out of his car seat and carry him and his plush out of the car.

His uncle waved to an unfamiliar man with wavy, combed, chocolate brown/reddish hair wearing strange, circular, red-lensed glasses, and a fancy suit.

The toddler shrank back a bit in his uncle's arms, clutching his toy tightly against his chest.

"Hey, Ben," Matt greeted, smiling politely at Peter. "You have your nephew with you?" He asked.

Ben nodded. "Yeah, I do. Peter, this is my friend, Matt Murdock."

Peter gave the man an owlish stare, blinking. "Nice t' meet you, Mr. Matt..." He said shyly.

"Pleasure to meet you, too, squirt," Matt replied, smiling at his cute voice. "You wanna come inside? I think I can get a movie up and running for him," he said, looking back at Ben.

"That would be great, Matt." He looked down at Peter. "You wanna watch a movie with Mr. Matt, kiddo?"

Peter nodded. "Can we watch Scooby?" He asked, holding his stuffed toy out to the Mutant.

"Why not, squirt? I'll let you pick the movie, too," he offered, chuckling.

Ben told him a lot about Peter, so much so that he had to ask Foggy to help him pick out enough Scooby-Doo and other kid movies he'd think the child would like to put in the break room at the law firm they worked at.

After getting Peter situated with a Scooby movie playing on a decent-sized TV, Matt turned to his friend.

"Did you get ahold of your brother?" He asked.

Ben shook his head in frustration. "No, he won't answer. I'm really starting to consider running a background check on him..."

"Has he ever done this before?" The lawyer asked, looking back at Peter.

"You mean drug Peter and abandon him in front of mine and May's apartment? No," Ben angrily stuffed his phone into his pocket. 

"That's exactly what our shit mother did, and now _he's_ doing it?"

Matt knew what he was talking about. He remembered how he had come to the door of his foster house when they were both thirteen, having been left alone by their mother for three days with barely any food to get them by.

That was one of the many reasons why he went out as Daredevil; to stop people like Ben and Richard's mother from hurting their spouses, kids, or animals.

"Do you think he told Mary what he was doing?" Matt asked, frowning.

"I don't know," Ben admitted. He looked through the large room window to see Peter happily swinging his legs to the _What's New, Scooby-Doo?_ theme song, making his stuffed animal's front legs wave in response to the music.

He was such a sweet child, blissfully unaware of the horrible act his father committed.

It hurt more than they expected.

Ben sighed, shaking his head. "I feel so bad for that kid, having such a shit dad."

"Do you think you could fight them in a custody battle over Peter?" Matt asked, frowning.

"Without clear evidence with what he was drugged with, no. I can take him to May, but I don't think she can do a drug test at an ER, and her friend, Helen, is out of town," the officer explained.

"It's worth a shot, right?" Matt asked, just as his friend's phone started ringing.

"Officer Parker speaking," Ben said when he answered the phone.

" _Ben? It's Commissioner Stacy,_ " George Stacy said. " _We need you at Coney Island right now_."

"I'll be right there," Ben said, hanging up the phone. "Matt, watch Peter, I have to go."

Matt nodded, able to hear the urgency in the commissioner's voice. "Okay. I'll keep an eye on him."

Ben carefully pushed the door open to the room his nephew was in, crouching down next to him. "Hey, buddy, I gotta go to work, but Matt's gonna stay here, and watch you for a bit, okay?"

Peter looked up at him with his wide, trusting eyes and nodded. "Okay, Unca Ben!" He hugged him around the neck, smiling widely.

Ben hugged him back before standing up and quickly hurrying out of the building.

Matt looked back at Peter, who waved innocently at him, although he couldn't see it.

"Why do you wear those glasses?" He asked innocently, all interest in Scooby-Doo vanishing.

"I wear them because I can't see like you and your uncle," he explained, removing his glasses to show the little boy his milky, white eyes.

Peter, unlike most children, let his mouth open in a little "O". "Wooooaaaah."

Matt chuckled, placing his glasses back on over his face. "These glasses help me see the outline of people, but that's about it. So I use my cane to walk around."

Peter stood up, wandering over to him. "Does it hurt?" He asked, tilting his head.

Matt chuckled, crouching down. "I got really hurt when I was a few years older than you," he explained.

"How'd you get hurt?" Peter asked, sitting in front of him with his legs crossed, his toy held against his chest.

"I saved somebody," he said. "This giant truck was coming towards this older man, and I shoved him out of the way. Caused a pretty bad accident, and whatever the truck was carting around in the back splashed on my face."

"Was it really dangerous stuff?" The six-year-old asked, tilting his head innocently.

"Yeah. Some sort of liquid. Kinda looked like water, but it certainly didn't feel like it." Matt frowned a bit, being reminded by how horrible the burning pain was and how scared he had been.

"Is that why your eyes look all white?" Peter asked, reaching up to take his glasses off to see his eyes again.

Matt smiled, chuckling. "Yeah. You wanna wear these?" He asked, taking his glasses off to allow Peter to place them over his face.

"Woah! Everything's all red!" He giggled, looking around.

Matt laughed when he heard him, sitting back on the floor to use his enhanced senses to keep an eye on the little tyke.

He could feel his anxiety starting to wear at him, as Foggy peeked into the room. "Matt.."

_Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum..._

His heart rate was elevated.

"Hey, squirt, I'm gonna need those back real quick, okay?" He smiled gently at Peter, who looked up at him through the red-tinted lenses.

"Okay, Mr. Matt." He took the glasses off his face and placed them in Matt's open hand.

Peter watched the man place the glasses over his eyes before standing up and moving away from him. He sat there, watching Matt walk out, furrowing his little brow to try and listen to the two lawyers' conversation.

"Foggy, what is it?" Matt asked in a hushed voice.

"There was a plane crash. At Coney Island," Foggy explained, his eyes clouded with worry.

"Plane crash?" Matt's brow furrowed. "Fog, you're not making any sense right now. What plane crashed?"

Foggy looked over at Peter, who innocently smiled and waved before retreating to watch his show.

" _Richard's_ plane crashed."

* * *

_November 28, 2007. Coney Island Beach._

The plane crash was on the news that night. It was bad, too.

No one survived the crash as far as the police could tell, as they recovered wallet after wallet, luggage tag after luggage tag, body after body...

Ben was almost glad Matt stayed with Peter. The stench of blood was almost too much for _him_ , and he wasn't even enhanced.

"Ben, I'm so sorry," Commissioner Stacy said, placing a hand on his deputy's shoulder, as he stared down at the line of bodies being zipped up in body bags, his brother's mangled corpse being one of them.

From the looks of it, his neck was snapped and he had died on impact. His arm was twisted at an unnatural angle in two places, and there were bruises and lacerations across his torso and waist from the seatbelt.

Mary was in worse shape than her husband. her neck was hanging by the skin when they found her, and her seatbelt had been embedded into her abdomen from the sharp jerk of the crashing plane, she had a cut over her eyebrow. There were probably more internal injuries she sustained that Ben didn't want to think about. He was just so grateful that his wife didn't work in the autopsy ward of the hospital. He didn't think she'd want to see what internal injuries the two members of their family sustained.

Oh no. What were they going to tell Peter?

Ben had called May at her shift, and she had instantly raced down there, still in her scrubs. She parked her car next to her husband's and dashed across the beach to reach him.

Thankfully, most if not all of the bodies were zipped up in body bags, so she didn't have to see the horror he had.

"May..." Ben wiped a hand down his face. "May, I... I don't know what to tell Peter..."

"We're going to have to tell him, Ben, we have no choice..." May said, tears glinting in her eyes. "I don't know how well he's going to take it, but we have to tell him."

"May, he's six years old. _Six_!" Ben protested. "No six-year-old _toddler_ should find out he's not going to see his parents ever again."

May covered her mouth with her hand when her husband spoke, a few tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. "That poor baby..."

Ben looked down before pulling his wife into a hug, letting her sob quietly into his Kevlar vest.

They had no idea how they could break such horrible news to their nephew.

They both jumped when Ben's phone went off, which made him pull it out of his vest pocket.

"Officer Parker speaking," he said, trying to keep his voice from wavering or showing any form of negative emotion.

" _Ben? It's Foggy,_ " Foggy's anxious voice spoke through the other line. " _I don't know how this happened, but...Peter...he changed the channels on the TV. He saw the plane crash."_

"What?" Ben's eyes widened a bit. "How did he figure out how to do that?"

" _I have no idea,_ " Foggy protested. " _You better get down here. The kid's a literal genius, and he's going to figure out what happened to his parents soon._ "

"Okay. I'll be right there," he said before hanging up. He looked to May with a look of worry on his face. "May, Peter knows about the crash. He managed to switch the channel on the TV in the break room at Matt's workplace."

May's eyes widened as well. "Wh-what? How did he...?"

"I don't know, but we need to go tell him," Ben said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "As much as I'll hate myself for it, he needs to know.."

May sucked in a deep breath before nodding. "You're right. I'll see if I can take off the rest of the day. Oh, poor Peter..." She shook her head, turning away from Ben to try and mask her tears.

Ben pulled her back into a hug, kissing her forehead. "It's okay, May... It's gonna be okay..."

"He's six, Ben... He shouldn't have to go through this..." She protested sadly.

"I know..." He sighed, shaking his head. "C'mon. Let's go see him."

* * *

_December 12, 2007. Queens Cemetery to Parker Residence._

Peter was very concerned when he saw the plane go down, his bright, blue eyes blinking owlishly at the TV screen, as he intently listened to the news reporter saying stuff like, "no survivors" or "police and first responders are doing the best they can to notify family members of the crash" before Matt had come in and asked him what he was watching.

The little boy was then told to hang tight because his aunt and uncle were coming to see him, which made his concern vanish in favor of excitement when he heard his guardians were coming to see him.

Once he saw Ben's tired face, and May's red-rimmed eyes, however...he knew in his little six-year-old mind that something was wrong.

May was always smiling and laughing with him, and Ben never looked tired. But as they both sat down with him in the office break room, telling him that his father and mother weren't going to be coming home, it all made sense.

He wouldn't go back to his home again, he wouldn't see his parents ever again. He would forever stay in Queens with his aunt and uncle.

Peter wasn't a stranger to death. He saw his mother execute someone with precise skill and ease when he was four, although she didn't want him to. His father praised him for not crying at the gunshot or the trail of blood that trickled out from the potato sack the deceased prisoner had tied over his head.

He remembered clinging to his father's pant leg and burying his face into his calf with a whimper upon hearing the gunshot, but other than that, he didn't make a big fuss about it.

That was the first and only time he had ever seen someone die.

"One day _,_ маленький паук, that will be you," he remembered his father say, his voice kind and rough, his eyes dark and cold.

Peter didn't understand what that meant. Was he going to be like the man lying dead? Or would he be like his mother, strong, poised, and aiming the barrel of the gun at a potato sack-covered head or metal target?

He was hoping to bet on the latter. He wanted to be like his mother so badly. She was his best friend.

But now, as he curled against Ben's body in a way-too-uncomfortable funeral suit, his head resting against the man's heart, his stuffed dog pressed against his chest, he watched with tired, sapphire eyes as his mother and father were laid to rest down below. Six feet under the ground.

Ben pressed a kiss to his head, then one to May's, whose shoulders were shaking in silent sobs, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Matt was standing close by as well, his hand on Ben's shoulder, as the three umbrellas kept the pouring rain from soaking the boy in the cop's arms.

"Ben, I'm so sorry," Matt muttered, looking down. "I'm so sorry this happened..."

Ben swallowed thickly before looking down at Peter. "It's just...to think that he was probably on that same plane just the day before this happened, I just..." He pressed a kiss into Peter's soft curls. "I don't want to even _think_ about what would have happened if he didn't make it, either..."

Matt nodded, well-aware of the outline of the sleeping little boy in his friend's arms.

It had only been a few weeks since the plane crash, and funerals were planned every day for the lost loved ones. It was a tough time for everyone involved...

Ben and May had struggled to try and find a school to enroll Peter into as well as planning the funeral for Peter's parents. Matt and Foggy helped whenever they could, which earned them the titles of "established godfathers", although they both knew that Foggy would _never_ be able to properly take care of a hyperactive six-year-old.

Despite being blind, Matt had enough experience with children that he'd be the best candidate for taking care of a child. Besides, he took on the role of a third parent in the many foster homes he bounced from after his father was found in an alley with a bullet hole in his head.

He wasn't as young as Peter was when his father was killed, however, only nine or ten at the most.

But Peter...he was so _young_. Six-years-old and orphaned was a tough thing to swallow.

As several people piled back at Ben and May's to give their condolences, Matt sat with Peter in his dimly lit room, letting the boy sleep in his bed while avoiding the extra stimuli that would aggravate his senses.

"Mmm....Mr. Matt...?"

Matt turned his head to look at his godson, smiling a bit. "Hey, Squirt... You doing okay?"

"Mm-hm," he said, rubbing his eye with a little fist. "I jus' miss my mama..."

Matt rubbed his head gently. "I know your aunt and uncle miss her, too, kiddo. Hell, if I knew her as well as you did, I'd miss her, too."

Peter's lips turned down into a little frown. "That's not a nice word..."

Matt chuckled, a bit amused. "Did your parents say that a lot?"

"My daddy did," he said. "My mama always got mad at him when he said stuff like that."

I'd get mad at him, too," Matt agreed, watching the little toddler curl into his arms again.

"Do you like the dark, Mr. Matt?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, I do," the lawyer replied. "My eyes don't like a lot of light, so I wear my sunglasses outdoors and to work, but my home stays dark at nighttime."

"My room stays dark at night, too. 'Cept my Scooby nightlight. He's always super bright, an' he makes me less 'fraid of th' dark," Peter explained.

Matt smiled at him, his milky eyes shining with adoration. "Really?"

"Mm-hm. Unca Ben gave him t' me. Scooby likes him, too, 'cause he scared of everything."

"Oh, he is?" Matt asked, which made Peter nod.

"Yeah! He scared of _everything_!" He said, a happy smile on his face.

Matt laughed again, just as the door creaked open, letting a stream of light, and the murmur of chatter enter the room.

May smiled softly when Peter smiled brightly at her.

"Auntie May! I was tellin' Mr. Matt 'bout Scooby!" He said, holding up his plush Scooby-Doo for her to see.

"Did you show Mr. Matt?" She asked softly.

Peter shook his head, his fluffy curls falling in his face. "No. Mr. Matt can't see, 'cause he's blind."

May chuckled, smiling a bit in amusement. "Did Mr. Matt tell you that?"

"Mm-hm!" Peter nodded, grinning.

"Y'know, I'm right here, May," Matt said, trying to sound offended, which wasn't working too great because of the smile tugging at his lips.

"We're just messing with you, Matt," she said, taking a sip of a glass filled with red wine.

"I know," he said, shaking his head fondly. He looked down at Peter, who yawned sleepily and nuzzled his face into his chest. "You getting tired again, Pete? You've had a long day."

Peter nodded, clinging to the man's dress shirt. "Mm-hm..."

He lay him down on his bed, letting him burrow under the covers. "Alright, Pete, you go to sleep, alright? We'll be right here."

"Thank you, Matt," May said, sadly but gratefully.

He nodded to her. "It's not a problem, May."

"We still appreciate it," she said, looking over at Peter, who hugged his Scooby plush to his chest.

Matt nodded again before sitting back against the wall, hearing the bedroom door quietly close. He paid close attention to listening to Peter's steady heartbeat, sitting quietly in the dark, while the little boy slept.

He could hear the chatter of the guests showing up to Richard and Mary's funeral start to go quieter over the next half hour.

Matt was beginning to doze off himself before the door creaked open. He sat up a bit when he saw a tired Ben watching him with a sad smile.

"Hey, Matt... Most everyone left except for Foggy if you want to come out," he offered.

Matt looked back at Peter, who had shifted around in his sleep, and was now clinging to his arm with all his might, before smiling a bit. "I think I'm okay, Ben."

The officer nodded before stepping into the room and planting a featherlight kiss on Peter's head.

"He's a tough kid, Ben," Matt noted. "I'm even surprised by how tough he is."

"Must be something he got from Richard," Ben said, standing back up.

Matt smiled and shook his head. "No, I think he got that from you."

The officer looked back at him, tears glistening in his eyes. He smiled and nodded. "Maybe.."

He closed the door as quietly as he could to give him and Peter some privacy, knowing it was a long day for everyone, and they all needed rest.

* * *

_December 21, 2007. Queens Cemetery._

Although saddened greatly by the fact that his parents were never coming back, Peter continued with his daily Peter-like routines. His little smile would never fail to make Ben or May smile around their tears and let him snuggle underneath their covers in between them in bed some nights.

He missed his mother so much for weeks after the accident, especially now that it was close to Christmas. His father not so much because he wasn't around for the most part.

When he was around, he was cold and neglectful, barely paying Peter any attention as his mother had for so many years.

So her death hit him pretty hard.

"D'you think Mama would like the drawing I gave her?" He asked, bundled up in a winter coat, beanie, gloves, boots, and scarf as Ben led him out of the cemetery.

"I don't doubt in my mind that she will, Pete," Ben said, smiling at his nephew.

He hummed thoughtfully, nodding. "M'kay, Uncle Ben..."

Ben looked over his shoulder at the graves of his brother and sister-in-law, sighing sadly. It was going to be their first Christmas without them, and that made Ben's heart clench with sadness.

Peter shouldn't have gone through something like this. He was just...too young...

He helped strap Peter into his car seat in the backseat of his undercover cop car Commissioner Stacy let him use now that he had Peter since keeping a car seat in the back of a state patrol car wasn't ideal.

He kissed the top of his nephew's head again before climbing into the driver's seat within the car, a very inconspicuous, navy blue Volvo XC70 with a dented fender from a minor accident two years prior.

He pulled out of the cemetery parking lot, driving back to his and May's apartment.

A lot of things were different after that. May and Ben had to accommodate Peter to their schedules, sign him up for school and a daycare program before Foggy and Matt could pick him up and watch him for a few hours before Ben got off of work to take him home and cook dinner, all while trying to deal with the deaths of the little boy's parents.

But Peter remained the same, happy little boy Ben and May had met when he was just a two-year-old baby. In their eyes, he was probably the best thing that could have happened to them...

Despite the secrets lurking behind why he was brought to their apartment in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> маленький паук: Little spider
> 
> Come scream at me at the official Earth-98565 [Tumblr](https://all-things-earth-9565.tumblr.com/)!


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